What we do

The Daisy Garland charity was set up in November 2004 to keep Daisy's memory alive and to help other little children like her.

We fund an increasing number of Ketogenic Dietitians who work in National Health Hospitals treating hundreds of children with intractable epilepsy.

We are the only UK charity funding Ketogenic Dietitians - each dietitian costs up to £47,000 per annum. If you think you could help us fund our next Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian go to HOW YOU CAN HELP. Be in touch today.

Our Ketogenic Dietitians

The Daisy Garland charity has provided funding for all of the following ketogenic dietitians - all working in NHS Hospitals in the UK, treating children with hard to control epilepsy.

Each dietitian costs up to £47,000 per year and we need your help to keep them in place. Please consider fundraising for us today, so that our dietitians can continue treating children with drug resistant epilepsy. If we don't raise the funds to keep them, we lose them. It's as simple as that. For further information and a free handbook on the ketogenic diet, please visit our website, contact us. Parents considering the ketogenic diet will require a referral from their GP, Paediatrician or Neurologist.

Don't forget to ask your Ketogenic Dietitian to apply to us for your free Keto Welcome Box which includes lots of lovely thing to get your ketogenic journey off to a wonderful start.

I have been working as a paediatric Dietitian for 20 years. The majority of my career has been spent working in paediatric intensive care both within the NHS and in the private sector where I have seen the benefits of ketogenic diet. I have been working as part of the Royal Berkshire NHS Trust for the last 18 months, initially with children with complex needs and more recently as an acute Dietitian at The Royal Berkshire Hospital. I feel privileged to be able to start this service in Berkshire on behalf of The Daisy Garland and provide a much needed service to children affected by epilepsy and their families.

I am married to Joe and a mother to 4 wonderful children. One daughter (20 years) and 3 sons, aged 11, 13 and 15 years old. If that wasn't enough we also have 2 dogs who keep us busy!

Hello! My name is Alison Craig and I qualified as a dietitian from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh in 2010. I have specialised in paediatrics for the past five years and have covered a range of specialities including cardiology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, neurology, respiratory, burn's and home enteral feeding.

I am thrilled to be joining the fantastic ketogenic team at Leeds Children's Hospital in my new role as Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian. My interest in ketogenic diets has grown since attending a study day in London and seeing how the lives of children and their families can be greatly improved through dietary modification. I am really looking forward to developing my skills in this area and I'm extremely thankful to The Daisy Garland for funding my position and making all of this possible.

A very warm Daisy Garland welcome to our newest recruit - Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian, Naomi Cox. Naomi is replacing Jane Davison who is retiring from her position at the Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham.

A qualified dietitian for over 7 years, Naomi has looked after many children with complex needs, and has first-hand experience of the positive impact the ketogenic diet can have on the lives of those affected by complex epilepsy. Naomi will also cover general inpatient and outpatient work within the Children's Hospital where she works alongside a Neurologist and a wider team of paediatric dietitians. "I am very grateful for the opportunity The Daisy Garland has given me. Their support and provision of funding is invaluable".

My name is Emily Robinson and I am thrilled to take up the job share position of Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian. I have been working at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh since 2011. My roles have included neurology, renal, special schools and home enteral feeding.

Working with children with epilepsy has allowed me to develop a keen interest in the Ketogenic diet and I was delighted when Daisy Garland funded this new post. I have been fortunate to be appointed as a job share in an area that I am passionate about and with a colleague that I have worked well with before. Together we are looking forward to supporting families throughout the South East of Scotland. I am also looking forward to developing a robust service thanks to Daisy Garland's funding and in turn increasing the service we offer, alongside our wider multidisciplinary team. We are very grateful to The Daisy Garland Charity for this opportunity to raise the profile of the ketogenic diet.

I have worked as a dietitian for 12 years and specialised into Paediatrics 7 years ago. I now work as a Paediatric Dietitian at Royal Hospital for Sick Children, Edinburgh and throughout this time have covered many areas including acute inpatients, home enteral tube feeding and diabetes. I have taken a specialist interest in neurology and the ketogenic diet over the last 2 years. I have found this to be an extremely rewarding area to work in as I am able to help, support, educate and influence very positive outcomes for the children and their families.

I am excited to now have the opportunity to further develop this service and build on my current knowledge and skills alongside my colleague Emily Robinson and our wider multi-disciplinary team. Through the generous funding given from The Daisy Garland Charity, our additional ketogenic dietetic service will help support more families across Lothian and South East Scotland. I look forward to taking on this new challenge and help raise the profile of such an important diet therapy. We are very grateful to The Daisy Garland Charity for this opportunity.

I have been a paediatric dietitian for 13 years. I have worked in a range of settings and specialities including research and education. I first came across the ketogenic diet during my time working in London and witnessed the difference the diet can make to the children and their families.

I am married with two small children and have just returned to work after having my second little boy. I am delighted to become a 'Daisy Garland Dietitian' and look forward to working with Judy to help expand our current service and support more children and their families with the ketogenic diet. We are extremely grateful for this opportunity and it would not be possible without funding from The Daisy Garland.

Hi, my name is Judy and I have been a paediatric dietitian for 33 years. I am married and have two teenage children.

For the first half of my career I worked at Great Ormond Street Hospital and that was when I first became involved in ketogenic diet therapy for children with epilepsy. The diet was far less palatable than it is today, but I saw some very positive outcomes.

I now work at the Children's Hospital Oxford where I currently provide a limited ketogenic diet therapy service. However, as the popularity of this treatment has increased, my waiting list for children to start the diet has grown ever longer.

I am therefore extremely grateful to The Daisy Garland for funding a full-time dietetic post which will mean we can expand our service and offer the diet as a therapy for more children with complex epilepsy and hopefully improve their and their family's quality of life.

I have been working at the Royal Devon and Exeter for 6 years since graduating from Plymouth University, working in Paediatrics for 5 of these years. My main role has been as the home enteral feeding dietitian working with children with a range of complex medical conditions. I developed an interest in the ketogenic diet as two of our tube fed children had started on it.

I am really excited to have the opportunity to work as a Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian and having the chance to develop our service locally. We are very grateful for this opportunity and know it would not be possible without funding from The Daisy Garland.

I am looking forward to working with children and their families, supporting them through their ketogenic journey.

On a personal note I always like a new challenge. In the next year I would like to do my first triathlon, if I ever find the time to train, as I am also just returning to work after having my son Korbin.

I have been a dietitian for 9 years and working in paediatrics for 7 years. I started my career working at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital and then joined the dietetic team at the Royal Devon & Exeter NHS Foundation Trust in 2009. I completed rotations covering stroke, neurology, respiratory, elderly care, cardiology and general medicine including eating disorders. In April 2010 I joined the paediatric dietetic team covering ward work and general clinics. Since December 2011 I have been in post as the paediatric home enteral feeding dietitian. I have completed two modules towards the Masters degree in Paediatric Dietetics; The Management of Nutrition in Infancy and Childhood and The Dietetic Management of Inherited Metabolic Disorders.

Since the birth of my daughter I now work part-time based on the hospital site. I review my caseload of patients at school, on the children's ward or in outpatients' clinics. My patients range from babies to young adults. I also cover the paediatric ward inpatients when needed. I'm looking forward to developing my skills in ketogenic diet therapy for the treatment of epilepsy alongside my colleague Deana Dumbreck. Â We are so grateful for The Daisy Garland funding - without their support this service would not be possible here in Exeter.

I have been a paediatric dietitian for over 10 years and helped to set up and expand a dedicated ketogenic diet clinic at my previous job at Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool.

My family and I decided to return to Scotland last year and I was delighted that The Daisy Garland charity was funding a post at Yorkhill. This funding has allowed me to get back into an area of dietetics that I thoroughly love and am passionate about. I feel honoured to be a Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian and look forward to helping to increase an already successful paediatric service and set up a transition ketogenic diet service in Glasgow.

I have been a Daisy Garland Ketogenic Specialist Paediatric Dietitian at Southmead Hospital in Bristol since 2009, and have worked as a Paediatric Dietitian across multiple specialities for the last 20 years.

I work alongside Kathy Lord, the Chair of KetoPag, and between us we have treated hundreds of children with the ketogenic diet therapy across the South-West and South Wales. As a community based service we work with a wide range of hospitals, consultant neurologists and local dietitians and are able to see families within their home, and visit schools or respite carers to provide education on the ketogenic diet. We use a variety of dietary approaches (including classical, modified atkins, MCT diet) and each diet is individually created with the family and child to make the transition as easy as possible.

I am thrilled to have been a Daisy dietitian for so long and I am really grateful to Sara and David at The Daisy Garland for their ongoing support, enabling me to continue to offer the ketogenic diet to more children each year.

I have been working in paediatrics for the majority of my career and have been at Queen's Medical Centre in Nottingham for nearly 40 years, covering all areas of paediatric dietetics.

I have had most experience in diabetes, allergy and general medicine. I have been working in the post of 'Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian' since 2009 and have enjoyed working with all the wonderful families I meet. I am married with a grown up family.

In July 2017 we said goodbye to Jane who was our dietitian in Nottingham for eight very happy providing exemplary care for the children under her care. Jane has been a rock for all of her families, helping them adapt to the diet and ensuring a positive ketogenic experience - thank you so much Jane - wishing you a very happy retirement! x

Marian Devlin, Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian Royal Derby Hospital

My name is Marian Devlin and I work with a supportive team of Paediatric Dietitians at Royal Derby Hospital in Derby, where we also have an experienced Children's Epilepsy Nurse and Paediatric Consultants. We are all interested in the ketogenic diet.

We are delighted to have received funding from The Daisy Garland charity to develop ketogenic diet therapy within Royal Derby Hospital. Our aim is to offer the ketogenic diet to as many appropriate referrals as possible and to work on tailoring and 'fine-tuning' the diet for our current patients to achieve improved results.

Our grateful thanks goes to David and Sara and all those who donate to The Daisy Garland charity.

Hello, my name is Vicki Whiteley for the last 10 years I have worked in the area of paediatric neurology, where I developed a very keen interest in the ketogenic diet and its application.

In January 2012 I joined the Royal Manchester Children's Hospital to focus on developing the ketogenic diet service. Thanks to the support and funding from The Daisy Garland I am able to concentrate on developing the diet and increase the service we offer, alongside Royal Manchester's enthusiastic team of consultants and nurses. This is a very exciting opportunity to develop and expand a much-needed service.

Our patient group is growing rapidly - some of them have been waiting more than five years for the opportunity to start the ketogenic diet. My aim is to provide as much advice and support as I can, helping families to adapt to the diet and have a positive experience. I look forward to helping more families interested in starting the ketogenic diet.

Educating parents/carers and health professionals about the ketogenic diet and the service we offer is a very positive and stimulating part of my job.

Thank you Daisy Garland - without your funding this work would not be possible.

I have been working as a Paediatric Dietitian for many years and have experience in all areas of Paediatric Dietetics. For the last 22 years I have specialised in working with children with neurological problems both in the Community and Hospital settings. Ketogenic funding from The Daisy Garland Charity has enabled us to provide an excellent ketogenic service at the Evelina Childrens Hospital.

Tara Randall, Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian, The Evelina Children's Hospital at Guy's and St. Thomas', London

I have been working for Guy's & St Thomas NHS Trust as a Paediatric Dietitian for 20 years. Our ketogenic patient group has increased rapidly, and my knowledge, especially in the practical areas of the diet, has improved considerably. I work as part of our Keto team, offering the Classical & MCT Ketogenic diets, and recently the Modified Atkins diet.We strive to ensure that the type of diet and practicalities of the diet are adapted for each individual child.I enjoy the challenge of working with Ketogenic Diets, and look forward to working with more families.

I grew up in Northern Ireland and qualified in 1993 from Leeds Metropolitan University. I took up my first job at Dr Gray's Hospital, Morayshire, Scotland covering all aspects of dietetics.

In 1996 The English Riviera & better weather beckoned (which is rich coming from Ireland, you'd think I'd have got used to it!), I moved to Plymouth working mostly in Oncology, Neurology/Neurosciences and Paediatrics. After raising my 3 children to school age I needed a new challenge and was aware of the ketogenic diet as part of a cutting edge treatment for epilepsy. I was also aware of the ongoing ketogenic study at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

I took up the post of "Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian" in November 2008. It was a little daunting setting up a new service but I enlisted the help of a Consultant Paediatrician and Clinical Pathologist. Together we have produced a Care Pathway for children enrolling onto the Ketogenic Diet and devised a Metabolic Investigations Programme. We accept referrals throughout the South West where other dietetic departments are unable to provide the necessary input required for the diet.

Please note that a referral from your GP, paediatrician or neurologist is required.

I am a Paediatric Dietitian who specialised in the ketogenic diet at St George's Hospital, London where I had the privilege of being the first "Daisy Garland Ketogenic Dietitian" working with children and their families on the ketogenic diet. My passion for the diet grew quickly and the children and their dedicated parents made my job as their ketogenic dietitian so much easier. It is extremely rewarding work and seeing how the ketogenic diet can change the lives of children who would otherwise not be given a chance to meet their full potential had a real impact on me. Many of the children I worked with struggled on a daily basis with difficult to control seizures. The diet works at various levels for different children and although they may not become seizure free, the results that their parents and I witnessed made it worthwhile to continue pursuing the diet. It is truly amazing when diet therapy can help change a child from one who lies down all day, barely able to move, to one who is rolling, making purposeful and intentional movements and laughing.

I returned to Cape Town, South Africa in January 2008 with the same drive and passion to bring the ketogenic diet to the forefront of all neurologists and paediatricians who care for children with epilepsy. I have therefore set up "Keto Kids" a Ketogenic Diet Centre in Cape Town and hope to support and encourage children and their families on their ketogenic diet journey. I hope to offer training to dietitians in South Africa who would like to work on the ketogenic diet but have never initiated the diet before. I have a degree in biochemistry and dietetics and find the two complement each other greatly. I fine tune the ketogenic diet by monitoring blood ketone levels alongside blood glucose levels and have had many success stories.

I am grateful to Sara and David and all at The Daisy Garland for their ongoing encouragement and support. I hope to keep you all updated with our progress in South Africa.

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